Team Building in Chiang Mai Thailand

Chiang Mai as your team building and MICE destination

Chiang Mai – Thailand’s “Rose of the North” – captivates visitors of all types and has been voted the world’s No.2 city by a prominent leisure-travel publication due to its cosmopolitan nature, moderate climate, and thriving arts & culture scene and now the area has also become a favorite destination for international MICE and team building events!

Corporate MICE groups can choose from a diverse panorama of venues and quality of hotels of every standard, designed to accommodate all kinds of MICE incentive group requirements.

Larger companies may wish to consider MICE tailored MICE venues such as the exquisite Rajaphruek Garden Convention Hall, and the recently constructed Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, which features comprehensive tradeshow facilities and is able to accommodate up to 10,000 guests.

Chiang Mai offers not only a respite from Bangkok’s urban bustle, but also, with it’s abundance of exhilarating outdoor activities, pristine settings, easy accessibility, and a relaxing atmosphere, it has become a top destination for team building and corporate MICE events in Thailand and the ASEAN region in its own right.

Chiang Mai as your team building and MICE destination

Treat your group to a luxury train journey or a one hour flight to Thailand’s northern capital, Chiang Mai, to experience indigenous Thailand, where luxury award-winning retreats are set amongst beautiful scenes of lush green paddy fields, and hilltribes, jungle experiences, elephants, night markets and a rich artistic culture offer uniquely Thai incentive programmes. Eco-adventure activities can be arranged easily, so your team members can take advantage of fantastic experiences such as elephant riding and trekking in the jungle, river rafting, mountain biking and much more...

Chiang Mai is also well known for it’s craftwork villages where interesting items made of wood, ceramic, stone, and other materials can be bought in the night market. Nightlife is also appreciated by visitors who can enjoy partaking of a well - earned beer in one of the many open bars or having dinner in one of the international or local restaurants.

Chiang Mai is many things: the land of beauty, warm hospitality and good manners, the land of fascinating, mist-shrouded mountains and fertile valleys, the land of religion with over 1,100 Buddhist temples and the land of Thai arts and handicrafts. Dating back over 700 years, the city of Chiang Mai has rooted its culture so deeply that it has it’s own dialect, it’s own architecture, it’s own costumes, it’s own cuisine and it’s own dances. Though modernization has crept into this faraway region in recent decades, Chiang Mai still retains its natural charm and old culture. If you have a chance to visit this tourist paradise, you will understand why people call it "The Rose of the North".

MICE Hotels

Chiang Mai has always been the first destination up-country for tourists, initially for trekking and to visit the villages of the hill tribes. Today, the dozens of 5 star hotels in and around Chiang Mai are able to comfortably handle incentives and seminars for up to 200 persons.

Chiang Mai now has more hotels with convention facilities to house events with 600 or more guests. Resort and boutique hotels cater to smaller, more exclusive groups. A major new centre; Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, which boasts three interconnected exhibition halls with a combined column free space of 8,000 square meters which can accommodate more than 10,000 people, has recently opened and joins the existing Empress Convention Center, opened in 2008, which has fairly good facilities, including a pillar-less hall, for events of up to 1,500 delegates and mid-size exhibitions, although the adjoining hotel is not quite international five-star standard.

Getting There

Chiang Mai is located some 700 kilometres north of Bangkok and is the gateway to explore northern Thailand and beyond.

Domestic airlines such as: Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia, Orient Thai Airlines and Nok Air, operate frequent daily flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Flight time for a one way journey is about an hour. There are also regular domestic flights between Chiang Mai and other major cities in Thailand as well as international flights to and from some major Asian destinations, e.g. Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, run by Thai Airways International and other foreign airlines.

Weather in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is popularly known as the "cool capital." The reality is that in the hot summer months, Chiang Mai can be just as uncomfortably hot as much of the rest of the country. However, unlike other parts of the country, from December to February the nights can be cool enough to require knitwear or a jacket, so the appellation is not totally undeserved.

The welcome cool season runs from December to March, although there's usually just about one week in December when temperatures are actually comfortable. The heat starts to increase soon after the new year and by April or May it can be almost unbearably hot and humid. During the rainy season the downpours can be very heavy, but generally only last for an hour or so in the afternoons.

The rainy season, coinciding as it does with the European and North American summers, is not an entirely bad time to visit, since the rain cools down the temperatures a bit and rather efficiently cleans the air. With the high temperatures, the rain is not exactly cold. Sometimes it can be like a warm shower.

What to do?

Chiang Mai is a land of mist-covered mountains, rolling rivers, ethnic hill-tribe villages, historic temples and elephants living in their natural habitat. These are just some of the charms Thailand's northernmost city is famous for. It offers something for everyone; nature lovers, adventure seekers, shopaholics, people who cherish culture and art, and those who just wish to be spoiled at an exclusive spa.

Chiang Mai is located approximately 700 kilometres to the north of Bangkok. At 300 metres above sea level, the city is somewhat cooler than others part of Thailand, and also the centre of the country's well-known handicraft industry. As the gateway to explore northern Thailand and beyond, Chiang Mai has more to offer MICE groups than the regular temple, elephant camp and handicrafts tour. For example, corporate meeting or incentive groups can experience a cooking lesson and contest at the Four Seasons Hotel. Set in the midst of paddy fields, this has proved to be a great team-building activity. Incentive groups will also surely be awed by the experience of releasing lanterns (Kongming lanterns) into the night sky from the vast compounds of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. For those with a strong sense of social responsibility, why not organize a special program to

benefit a local orphanage or school, or give offerings to Buddhist monks? The more adventurous can go for flying fox activities in the jungle.

As an additional incentive, the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, under its newly launched Thailand Maximizes program, will reward organizers who bring conventions, meetings or incentive groups to Chiang Mai or any part of the country. Hence, there is truly great value for money to be had holding an event here.